DAC-AMP for Hifiman Sundara and iPhone 12?

[_gfi]

Hello all,

My first post on the forum. Thanks for building a fantastic community! Need your help - I am looking for a portable dac/amp for my Sundara (want to use them around the house). As a source, I can switch between my iPhone 12 and Mac Mini M1 ( Music Lossless, Spatial etc.). I can sacrifice Mac Mini as a source and play exclusively through iPhone, if that matters. I play mostly Indian Classical, Western Classical, Soft Rock, and old bollywood. Came across these amp-dacs as the options, and need your insight about which might work for my requirements without compromising the audio experience.

• ifi Hip dac 2: Concerned about battery recharge duration - most reviews mention that they will need recharge after 4-5 hrs). Else they look good.
• XDuoo XD-05 Basic: Not much info about how's the audio experience
• Qudelix 5K Bluetooth: Again, not much info
• Topping NX4 DSD: Not much info that I have. But shortlisted because they are portable
• Tempotec Sonata HD Pro: This looks like the best budget option but not sure what is missing here compared to more expensive options above
• Any other option I should consider?

Thank you!

 

[fLUX]

Hello all,

My first post on the forum. Thanks for building a fantastic community! Need your help - I am looking for a portable dac/amp for my Sundara (want to use them around the house). As a source, I can switch between my iPhone 12 and Mac Mini M1 ( Music Lossless, Spatial etc.). I can sacrifice Mac Mini as a source and play exclusively through iPhone, if that matters. I play mostly Indian Classical, Western Classical, Soft Rock, and old bollywood. Came across these amp-dacs as the options, and need your insight about which might work for my requirements without compromising the audio experience.

• ifi Hip dac 2: Concerned about battery recharge duration - most reviews mention that they will need recharge after 4-5 hrs). Else they look good.
• XDuoo XD-05 Basic: Not much info about how's the audio experience
• Qudelix 5K Bluetooth: Again, not much info
• Topping NX4 DSD: Not much info that I have. But shortlisted because they are portable
• Tempotec Sonata HD Pro: This looks like the best budget option but not sure what is missing here compared to more expensive options above
• Any other option I should consider?

Thank you!

I would recommend Xduoo XD-05+ , the extra 500mW of power is beneficial in driving Sundara and similarly other slightly harder to drive headphones. I have been using them occasionally to power my HD650/ZMF and they sound good. Plus in future you can upgrade the op-amp to enhance your experience, quiet a few people have put the XD-05+ on par with budget desktop setups and after getting one for myself I can understand why.

Regarding XD-05 Basic vs + , I too was in the same confusion as my use was going to be limited time wise for this. However I was told that XD-05+ betters the Basic in its amp and dac section by a good margin , hence decided to take the plunge.

 

[Doomster69]

I would suggest look at the dacs implementation inside as well. i have 2 dac amps i got last yr.. Fiio Q5 MK2 and NX4DSD. Q1 has a warmish SS thanks to AKM dac but not enough power for planars, even on balanced. Hd6xx driven well due to their high sensitivity of 103db. Sundara is much lower sensitivity and req high current. Topping NX4 DSD has enough power to drive entry planars and may be better suited for neutral/neutral warm hps like Sundara. Its a great pairing if u like more accurate/analytical sound due to Sabre Dac implementation. Its one of the cleanest setup. Im able to even get Aryas to run on it (albeit with smaller staging and weak dynamics)

Suggest once u have shortlisted the dac sound sig. and synergy, then look for the power ouput, and other specs. Eg If you want MQA decoding (using tidal and USB Audio Pro App), then look for MQA compatible dac amp.

Cheers

 

[Mayasandra_l]

I have the sundara. I drive it regularly with my ifi zen stack (zen can +zen dac). This combo takes care of the bit deficient bass of Sundara. The mid range is superb. However this gives a bit shiny top end especially when I hear Mozart clarinet quintet. However when I connect the xduoo MT 602 with the zen dac, the rig gives a much rounded sound output. Upon your querying, I checked sundara when my r2r dac was connected to my Audiolab 6000A. In my opinion, this gave me the best output with very controlled top end, clear mid and no over emphasized low end. My summary would hence be- If you like a bit airy top end with good bass, go for zen stack. If you like more rounded top end, you can go for Xduoo as suggested by @fLUX. Cheers!

 

[Doomster69]

I have the sundara. I drive it regularly with my ifi zen stack (zen can +zen dac). This combo takes care of the bit deficient bass of Sundara. The mid range is superb. However this gives a bit shiny top end especially when I hear Mozart clarinet quintet. However when I connect the xduoo MT 602 with the zen dac, the rig gives a much rounded sound output. Upon your querying, I checked sundara when my r2r dac was connected to my Audiolab 6000A. In my opinion, this gave me the best output with very controlled top end, clear mid and no over emphasized low end. My summary would hence be- If you like a bit airy top end with good bass, go for zen stack. If you like more rounded top end, you can go for Xduoo as suggested by @fLUX. Cheers!

He wants portable set up

 

[Mayasandra_l]

He wants portable set up

Never suggested anything else. I stated, what I tried.

 

[fLUX]

A desktop stack is most recommended , zen stack or a schiit stack (if available) is a good option sub 20/25k. In portable devices, Xduoo XD05+ with 1watt @32 ohm actually trumps most of the portable/budget offerings in terms of power reserve , SQ wise with the stock op-amp it sounds decent, but with an op-amp upgrade is known to scale tremendously. Quiet a few head-fiers have been using it with extremely hard to drive headphones like Arya/HE6SE with good dynamics, of course a higher end desktop setup will trump it but at the cost and for portable factor it does quiet well.

 

[_gfi]

I liked Xduoo XD-05 Plus but it costs 20K+. I will probably go for a cheaper but portable option right now and will add a desktop stack later as an upgrade. Any experience or ideas about which cheaper, portable option would be best? In any case, highly appreciate all your responses! Thanks!

 

[fLUX]

I am liked Xduoo XD-05 Plus but it costs 20K+. I will probably go for a cheaper but portable option right now and will add a desktop stack later as an upgrade. Any experience or ideas about which cheaper, portable option would be best? In any case, highly appreciate all your responses! Thanks!

IFI HIP DAC 2 is a good option from your list, NX4 was well known before but with arrival of HIP DAC and XD-05+ lesser people prefer the same. Also lot of type-C min dacamps like Earmen Sparrow, Lotoo Paw S1 and few others are being touted to sound better than bigger sized portable dac-amps under 10k , however not sure on the power delivery as I have only read and never tried any of these. Some of my friends who did were amazed with the power delivery in such small form factors and said they could live with those for portable listening sessions.

By the way if you are open to used deals , do scourge for them in few FB groups. I got hold of my Xduoo XD-05+ along with the BT extender for 18k.

 

[_gfi]

IFI HIP DAC 2 is a good option from your list, NX4 was well known before but with arrival of HIP DAC and XD-05+ lesser people prefer the same. Also lot of type-C min dacamps like Earmen Sparrow, Lotoo Paw S1 and few others are being touted to sound better than bigger sized portable dac-amps under 10k , however not sure on the power delivery as I have only read and never tried any of these. Some of my friends who did were amazed with the power delivery in such small form factors and said they could live with those for portable listening sessions.

By the way if you are open to used deals , do scourge for them in few FB groups. I got hold of my Xduoo XD-05+ along with the BT extender for 18k.

I almost missed your tip at the end of the post. Have joined a few FB groups. Will go with a cheap dacamp and keep an eye on any deals on the FB groups. Thank you for all the help!

 

[Doomster69]

Btw.. there is a NX7 portable amp on the way. May be u should wait for this..

Measurements of Topping NX7 Portable HPAmp - L7Audiolab

便携设备 额……这台便携式耳放，是拓品的NX系列（之前我从没测过这个系列）即将推出的新产品。我印象当中拓品的便携就没有特别出彩的=。= （BC系列其实还行）。无论如何，这是 Topping NX7 ，一台自带电池的便携式耳放：

www.l7audiolab.com

 

[Jith77]

Have seen the xduoo xd 05 ( not basic but previous edition) in headphone zone pre owned section at 7500. The section is no longer visible - probably due Black Friday sale. You can write to them and check

 

[_gfi]

Finally got delivery of the Sundara headphones today. They work well with Apple AUX to Lightning adopter + iPhone but the power is definitely missing - there is no punch which one would expect from headphones of this calibre. Then I connected them to the Mac Mini M1 through the Mac's default audio port (no adopter needed), and boy! Now I know what good audiophile headphones are made of! The volume at 50% to 60% levels is comfortable for me. I can turn it up to max based on tracks. For some tracks 70-80% is the highest I can go before it becomes too loud. But based on what I have heard first hand, I will go with a cheap, portable dac-amp now and upgrade to a desktop setup later (unless I get a good deal on pre-owned equipment). Thank you all for your tips!

 

[Jith77]

here you go. thats a good deal

FiiO - K5 Pro (Pre-Owned)

Buy Kolpo's Pre-owned FiiO - K5 Pro Online in India Best Earphones, headphones & audio accessories. Reviews, news & advice.

www.headphonezone.in

 

[_gfi]

here you go. thats a good deal

FiiO - K5 Pro (Pre-Owned)

Buy Kolpo's Pre-owned FiiO - K5 Pro Online in India Best Earphones, headphones & audio accessories. Reviews, news & advice.

www.headphonezone.in

Thanks for sharing the link!!

 

[air870]

I am using the Dragonfly Cobalt

 

[DAVER]

Hello all,

• Any other option I should consider?

Thank you!

Congarts Bud !!!
So i did extensive research on DACs for this headphone and had almost selected ifi audio zen dac 2 and then found that LG phones have excellent Quad DACs from ESS Sabre. they have a DAC and HPA in built.

i am sharing a link which tells you which LG phone to buy. There is a MQA enabled LG phone also...V60

You may be worried about Support as they (LG) are shutting down. But all electronics provide 1 or max 2 years support.

In my case, my LG G8x Thinq phone was not being used, so removed the dual screen and rocking the Sundara with all kinds of lossless audio on it.
if i had a choice between a DAP (Fiio, A&Ks) and LG would again pick a LG. the V60 is MQA enabled DAC. But then i am re-enterring audiohile and using Sundara and not expensive DACs at the moment.

LG's Quad DAC: Everything you need to know

LG's smartphones were best known for their headphone jacks, thanks to the Quad DAC feature that set them apart from most of the competition.

www.androidauthority.com

 

[_gfi]

Congarts Bud !!!
So i did extensive research on DACs for this headphone and had almost selected ifi audio zen dac 2 and then found that LG phones have excellent Quad DACs from ESS Sabre. they have a DAC and HPA in built.

i am sharing a link which tells you which LG phone to buy. There is a MQA enabled LG phone also...V60

You may be worried about Support as they (LG) are shutting down. But all electronics provide 1 or max 2 years support.

In my case, my LG G8x Thinq phone was not being used, so removed the dual screen and rocking the Sundara with all kinds of lossless audio on it.
if i had a choice between a DAP (Fiio, A&Ks) and LG would again pick a LG. the V60 is MQA enabled DAC. But then i am re-enterring audiohile and using Sundara and not expensive DACs at the moment.

LG's Quad DAC: Everything you need to know

LG's smartphones were best known for their headphone jacks, thanks to the Quad DAC feature that set them apart from most of the competition.

www.androidauthority.com

Unfortunately, LG V60 etc. are not available in India.

 

[DAVER]

Unfortunately, LG V60 etc. are not available in India.

yeah, but some other LGs (listed in that link) with similar quality DAC are available on flipkart.